Things as a service: Service model for IoT

Leveraging the benefits of service computing technologies for Internet of Things (IoT) can help in rapid system development, composition and deployment. But due to the massive scale, computational and communication constraints, existing software service models cannot be directly applied for IoT based systems. Service discovery and composition mechanism need to be decentralized unlike majority of other service models. Moreover, IoT services' interfaces require to be light weight and able to expose the device profile for seamless discovery onto the IoT based system infrastructure. In addition to this, the 'things' data should be associated with its present context. To address these issues, this paper proposes a formal model for IoT services. The service model includes the physical property of 'things' and exposes it to the user. It also associates the context with the 'things' output, which in turn helps in extracting relevant information from the 'things' data. To evaluate our IoT service model, a weather monitoring system and its associated services are implemented using node.js [31]. The service data is mapped to SSN ontology for generating context-rich RDF data. This way, the proposed IoT service model can expose the device profile to the user and incorporate relevant context information with the things data

Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management, CISIM 2012, held in Venice, Italy, in September 2012. The 35 revised full papers presented together with 2 keynote talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 80 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on security, access control and intrusion detection; pattern recognition and image processing; biometric applications; algorithms and data management; networking; and system models and risk assessment

Impact of Community-Based Larviciding on the Prevalence of Malaria Infection in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The use of larval source management is not prioritized by contemporary malaria control programs in sub-Saharan Africa despite historical success. Larviciding, in particular, could be effective in urban areas where transmission is focal and accessibility to Anopheles breeding habitats is generally easier than in rural settings. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a community-based microbial larviciding intervention to reduce the prevalence of malaria infection in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania. Larviciding was implemented in 3 out of 15 targeted wards of Dar es Salaam in 2006 after two years of baseline data collection. This intervention was subsequently scaled up to 9 wards a year later, and to all 15 targeted wards in 2008. Continuous randomized cluster sampling of malaria prevalence and socio-demographic characteristics was carried out during 6 survey rounds (2004-2008), which included both cross-sectional and longitudinal data (N = 64,537). Bayesian random effects logistic regression models were used to quantify the effect of the intervention on malaria prevalence at the individual level. Effect size estimates suggest a significant protective effect of the larviciding intervention. After adjustment for confounders, the odds of individuals living in areas treated with larviciding being infected with malaria were 21% lower (Odds Ratio = 0.79; 95% Credible Intervals: 0.66-0.93) than those who lived in areas not treated. The larviciding intervention was most effective during dry seasons and had synergistic effects with other protective measures such as use of insecticide-treated bed nets and house proofing (i.e., complete ceiling or window screens). A large-scale community-based larviciding intervention significantly reduced the prevalence of malaria infection in urban Dar es Salaam

Addressing key gaps in implementation of mosquito larviciding to accelerate malaria vector control in southern Tanzania: results of a stakeholder engagement process in local district councils

BACKGROUND: Larval source management was historically one of the most effective malaria control methods but is now widely deprioritized in Africa, where insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are preferred. However, in Tanzania, following initial successes in urban Dar-es-Salaam starting early-2000s, the government now encourages larviciding in both rural and urban councils nationwide to complement other efforts; and a biolarvicide production-plant has been established outside the commercial capital. This study investigated key obstacles and opportunities relevant to effective rollout of larviciding for malaria control, with a focus on the meso-endemic region of Morogoro, southern Tanzania. METHODS: Key-informants were interviewed to assess awareness and perceptions regarding larviciding among designated health officials (malaria focal persons, vector surveillance officers and ward health officers) in nine administrative councils (n = 27). Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to assess awareness and perceptions of community members in selected areas regarding larviciding (n = 490). Thematic content analysis was done and descriptive statistics used to summarize the findings. RESULTS: A majority of malaria control officials had participated in larviciding at least once over the previous three years. A majority of community members had neutral perceptions towards positive aspects of larviciding, but overall support for larviciding was high, although several challenges were expressed, notably: (i) insufficient knowledge for identifying relevant aquatic habitats of malaria vectors and applying larvicides, (ii) inadequate monitoring of programme effectiveness, (iii) limited financing, and (iv) lack of personal protective equipment. Although the key-informants reported sensitizing local communities, most community members were still unaware of larviciding and its potential. CONCLUSIONS: The larviciding programme was widely supported by both communities and malaria control officials, but there were gaps in technical knowledge, implementation and public engagement. To improve overall impact, it is important to: (i) intensify training efforts, particularly for identifying habitats of important vectors, (ii) adopt standard technical principles for applying larvicides or larval source management, (iii) improve financing for local implementation and (iv) improve public engagement to boost community awareness and participation. These lessons could also be valuable for other malaria endemic areas wishing to deploy larviciding for malaria control or elimination

Entomological Surveillance of Behavioural Resilience and Resistance in Residual Malaria Vector Populations.

The most potent malaria vectors rely heavily upon human blood so they are vulnerable to attack with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) within houses. Mosquito taxa that can avoid feeding or resting indoors, or by obtaining blood from animals, mediate a growing proportion of the dwindling transmission that persists as ITNs and IRS are scaled up. Increasing frequency of behavioural evasion traits within persisting residual vector systems usually reflect the successful suppression of the most potent and vulnerable vector taxa by IRS or ITNs, rather than their failure. Many of the commonly observed changes in mosquito behavioural patterns following intervention scale-up may well be explained by modified taxonomic composition and expression of phenotypically plastic behavioural preferences, rather than altered innate preferences of individuals or populations. Detailed review of the contemporary evidence base does not yet provide any clear-cut example of true behavioural resistance and is, therefore, consistent with the hypothesis presented. Caution should be exercised before over-interpreting most existing reports of increased frequency of behavioural traits which enable mosquitoes to evade fatal contact with insecticides: this may simply be the result of suppressing the most behaviourally vulnerable of the vector taxa that constituted the original transmission system. Mosquito taxa which have always exhibited such evasive traits may be more accurately described as behaviourally resilient, rather than resistant. Ongoing national or regional entomological monitoring surveys of physiological susceptibility to insecticides should be supplemented with biologically and epidemiologically meaningfully estimates of malaria vector population dynamics and the behavioural phenotypes that determine intervention impact, in order to design, select, evaluate and optimize the implementation of vector control measures

Electronic Structure and Bonding of Icosahedral Core-Shell Gold-Silver Nanoalloy Clusters Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60

Atomically precise thiolate-stabilized gold nanoclusters are currently of interest for many cross-disciplinary applications in chemistry, physics and molecular biology. Very recently, synthesis and electronic properties of "nanoalloy" clusters Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 were reported. Here, density functional theory is used for electronic structure and bonding in Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 based on a structural model of the icosahedral Au_144(SR)_60 that features a 114-atom metal core with 60 symmetry-equivalent surface sites, and a protecting layer of 30 RSAuSR units. In the optimal configuration the 60 surface sites of the core are occupied by silver in Au_84Ag_60(SR)_60. Silver enhances the electron shell structure around the Fermi level in the metal core, which predicts a structured absorption spectrum around the onset (about 0.8 eV) of electronic metal-to-metal transitions. The calculations also imply element-dependent absorption edges for Au(5d) \rightarrow Au(6sp) and Ag(4d) \rightarrow Ag(5sp) interband transitions in the "plasmonic" region, with their relative intensities controlled by the Ag/Au mixing ratio.Comment: 4 figure

Dopamine Regulates Angiogenesis in Normal Dermal Wound Tissues

Cutaneous wound healing is a normal physiological process and comprises different phases. Among these phases, angiogenesis or new blood vessel formation in wound tissue plays an important role. Skin is richly supplied by sympathetic nerves and evidences indicate the significant role of the sympathetic nervous system in cutaneous wound healing. Dopamine (DA) is an important catecholamine neurotransmitter released by the sympathetic nerve endings and recent studies have demonstrated the potent anti-angiogenic action of DA, which is mediated through its D2 DA receptors. We therefore postulate that this endogenous catecholamine neurotransmitter may have a role in the neovascularization of dermal wound tissues and subsequently in the process of wound healing. In the present study, the therapeutic efficacy of D2 DA receptor antagonist has been investigated for faster wound healing in a murine model of full thickness dermal wound. Our results indicate that treatment with specific D2 DA receptor antagonist significantly expedites the process of full thickness normal dermal wound healing in mice by inducing angiogenesis in wound tissues. The underlined mechanisms have been attributed to the up-regulation of homeobox transcription factor HoxD3 and its target α5β1 integrin, which play a pivotal role in wound angiogenesis. Since D2 DA receptor antagonists are already in clinical use for other disorders, these results have significant translational value from the bench to the bedside for efficient wound management along with other conventional treatment modalities